ASPI Director of Political-Security Affairs Lindsey Ford spoke with Brooke Baldwin on CNN Newsroom about the Singapore summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.

The wording of the leaders’ Joint Statement is full of vague promises, which is a result of “the very rushed way the President chose to go about this particular meeting.” Ford says that for these two leaders to meet without “allowing the negotiators to [first] test out what the other side is willing to give” there was little hope for a robust agreement between the two parties.

Ford says that looking at the images of the American and North Korea flags draped together, and hearing Trump heap compliments upon Kim was “jarring.” While Ford recognizes the need for “personal diplomacy,” she states people cannot forget that the North Korean regime “sent Otto Warmbier home in a medically induced coma.” Given that Kim was an international pariah as recently as six months ago, Ford believes the summit “handed him a propaganda coup.” (5 min., 41 sec.)

The US handed Kim Jong Un a propaganda coup at #TrumpKimSummit. - @lindseywford on @CNN https://t.co/nr6kPServ2

— ASPI (@AsiaPolicy) June 12, 2018